Lord of the Flies.

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Introduction

Lord of the Flies Lord of the flies is a story that begins in the aftermath of a plane crash in the Pacific Ocean during an unnamed war in which a group of English schoolboys are isolated on what they assume to be an island, under no adult supervision they are left to 'fend for themselves' create their own friendships and fight their own battles. As the story unfolds the boys develop a miniature society in which they try to include rules and order, but, each with their own ideas of right and wrong and sometimes totally different priorities, difficulties inevitably arise, their little community collapses and the boys are thrown into a world of hurt and fear. Because of the intensity of the problems each of these boys have to face in this novel at such an early age you could say that each one is, in his own way, a hero but you could also say that, because of its tragic storyline this novel holds no heroes. In this essay I hope to find out why or why not the characters in this story are heroes. Before I start this essay I feel it is necessary to define a 'hero'. The Collins dictionary defines a hero as "one greatly regarded for achievements or qualities" but I don't believe that this is necessarily true, in my opinion a hero is someone who does something unusually brave to their own standards, someone who puts themselves out in order to do something for someone else. A hero is someone who thinks of others before themselves and does what he or she thinks is right. ...read more.

Middle

civilization and these views cause the other boys to dislike him as he seems too them as an adult an intruder in their new world. They don't want to be overrun with rules; they want to have fun but Piggy, as the most intelligent of the three central characters, views the rules as useful tools for survival. He views all aspects of the boys' behavior on the island in terms of whether it will contribute to their eventual rescue. This in a way makes him partially a hero he knows the reaction he will get from the boys when he tries to instill some sort of order but still tries, he ultimately just wants to help. Piggy remains an outsider to the boys throughout, he is set up as a martyr figure trying his hardest but never actually fitting in. This is mainly due to his grounded concerns and ideas. The other boys loathe him for this. "How can you expect to be rescued when you don't put first things first and act proper?" When Piggy suggests that the boys build a sundial they mock him, this is quite hurtful to Piggy as he doesn't seem to understand why they hate him so much and still tries to win their approval by suggesting to them what he thinks are good ideas. In this sense piggy is a hero no matter what they say or do he always tries, for example when he tries too get his glasses back. This is entirely out of character for Piggy but he tries.Regrettably what Piggy does , to me, seems self-centered, he says and suggests things in order to impress and gain approval from the other boys, the main objective of all he says seems to be to emphasize his intellectual superiority to the boys although rather then impressing this serves as an irritation to the boys. ...read more.

Conclusion

It is Simon who finds the beast and realizes that it is only a dead pilot, but when he attempts to tell the other boys they think that he is the beast himself and murder him in panic. The two outcasts both die when they shatter the illusions held by the other boys. Simon dies when he exposes the truth about the nonexistent beast, while the hunters kill Piggy when he forces them to see their behavior as barbaric and irresponsible. In this aspect Simon could be seen as a hero he spoke of what he saw and was murdered for contradicting the others beliefs. He wanted, in a way, to help them, to stop them being afraid . Although he died completely innocent and a martyr this in my view doesn't necessarily make him a hero, he didn't do anything brave, he wasn't standing up for what he believed or doing anything he needed courage for. Simon never expected the reaction he received he didn't expect the frenzy that greeted him so never really needed to be heroic. In conclusion I don't think there are really any heroes in Lord Of The Flies, although many of them did what they thought was best in there own way. They try to do what is right but they are only children and away from the guidance and love of their parents and the civilization of the world they came from the collapse of the Eden like world they had created at the beginning of the novel was inevitable and they found themselves alone and frightened. It was then they showed that none could ever be heroes. Although they were young and in many cases brave, none , I think, showed the true qualities of a hero. ...read more.

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